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CANTOY Interview

"There's something magical about it. That kind of moment creates
its own melody. Maybe CANTOY's music can bring good feelings to everybody." - Catherine

In that old game of "One of these things is not like the other" you might at first think that the colorful vocal talents of miri-pow might be a bit of a mismatch for the group CANTOY. That is, until you see them start to jump up and down together and play in front of a live audience.

If its raw energy you're looking for in a band with a unique look and feel, this punk oriented group with the lady in a kimono might be just what the doctor ordered. They released their debut mini album "MissMatch!" back in 2010 and have a new album in the works.

On March 19, 2012 the members of CANTOY were kind enough to give an interview to Andrew
from J-Pop World. All photos courtesy of CANTOY.

Please tell us the story of how CANTOY formed.

miri-pow: Catherine and I used to be in a band together. Around that time,
we met Haga-chang.

Ken: When the band became CANTOY, that's when I joined.

Catherine: A long time ago I was in a pop band and I learned a lot about
music which helped in the creation of CANTOY.

Haga-chang: Our band name used to be in Japanese. But, since we're a
world-wide band we used the English alphabet to create our name.

Catherine: That's right! We're world-wide!

How would you describe your sound and look?

Catherine: A loud and heavy sound with miri-pow's pop vocals. The gap is
huge between our sound and her voice. It's wonderful.

Ken: It's the same as the way we look. Colorful miri-pow in the middle of
all us guys wearing black.

Haga-chang: Our look and sound are the same concept. They're one and the
same.

miri-pow: I don't believe there is a band like us anywhere in the world.

We loved the feel of LOUD UP!!. Can you tell us more about the song?

Catherine: It's a song that focuses on good things.

Ken: When we made this song, CANTOY was born.

Catherine: When LOUD UP!! was created, it helped us find our musical path.

Haga-chang: We made a PV for this one. You've probably seen it on YouTube. We filmed it during one of our live shows in Tokyo.

miri-pow: It's one of our favorite songs! It gets crazy when we play it live.

Rumor has it that some drinking occurs while on tour. Is this true, miri-pow?

miri-pow: It's true. Every time after a live, there is a party. We always
get wasted. Even on our free days the four of us often go drinking.

Catherine: Hmm. Drinking helps create a bond between us. If we don't drink,
there will be a lot of fighting on tour. HAHAHA!

Do you each have a favorite memory of playing (or partying) together?

Catherine: The show where the neck of my guitar broke.

Ken: During a live, Catherine's 7-string guitar broke against a speaker and
he had to play with a 4-string.

Catherine: We had a show the very next day. So I had to play all this heavy
rock with a 4-string guitar!

Haga-chang: This story is funny because my bass is a 5-string and I was
playing with more strings than Catherine. HAHAHAHA!

miri-pow: Actually, that was probably the best we ever sounded! HAHAHA!
(Picking on Catherine)

How did you each find your way into punk music?

Haga-chang: I consider myself different. I'm a comical character. If you
see our live, you'll see that I'm not a normal person.

Ken: The drums are the hardest to see from the audience. However, when we
perform, I feel in my heart that all eyes are on me.